Vermilion Kiss (12 page)

When noon finally came, Sang burst into my room as I was reading one of his novels on my kindle and caught me in a bear hug. “Come on, Lily! Let’s go! Let’s go! Off to Paris!”

I shut off my kindle before he could see what I was reading and embraced him back. “Is it only the three of us and Lawrence?”

He shook his head. “No, Caen is coming too! Isn’t that cool? We’re gonna have so much fun! And then…” His voice trailed off. “We’ll get the fucker who did that to Hira.”

I stood up and closed my hand around my suitcase. “You bet we will.”

He gave me a thumbs-up and skipped out into the hall.

I followed.

Sang had brought his laptop with him and was furiously writing his next novel as Caen and I sparred with wooden swords in the back of the private jet. He used to be a knight back in the day, and his skills sure as hell proved it. It took all my energy just to keep up with his movements, let alone block his flurry of constant attacks.

Darius lounged on his beige recliner, sipping a tall glass of red wine as he watched us with keen interest. Again and again, Caen dealt what would’ve been a “killing blow” if we’d been using real metal weapons. My speed and awareness was improving though, and trying to fight while in a moving plane added to the challenge immensely. Caen wasn’t going easy on me like he had when we’d sparred with rapiers on our trip to Vegas; no, he was much, much more serious this time and I could tell by the wild gleam in his mismatched eyes.

He raised his sword and struck out like a viper, hitting me in the side. I ignored the pain and swung my sword at his feet. He leapt over it like a jump rope and rammed his sword into my stomach. I coughed and hacked, and the sword fell from my hands and clattered to the floor.

Sweat rolled in thick beads down my skin. I had taken off my sweater and was only wearing a pair of jean shorts and a pink tank top. My hair was in a ponytail, as was Caen’s. We grunted with effort as our swords clashed and banged together, wood scraping brutally against wood.

My vision became blurred and uneven and before I knew it, I instantly collapsed to my knees. Cane rushed to my side and put my head on his lap as he got onto his knees and wiped my forehead with a damp cloth.

“Lily, Lily! Are you okay? I’m sorry!” Caen cried.

Sang called, “Hey, is everything all right back there?”

“That’s it for now. Her body is still not accustomed to the stress you are forcing on it.” Darius’s crisp, stern voice cut through the tension. I felt a cool hand press beneath my back and another cradle my head.

Caen was flustered. “I’m sorry, my Lord. I should’ve stopped hours ago—”

“It is fine. She needs rest.” He carried me back to his private chambers. “And blood.”

In his suite, Darius tenderly set me down onto the king-sized bed and lifted my feet onto a mound of pillows. He then took a wet towel and dabbed at my overheated body, dried me, and then tucked a sheet around me.

I peered up into his honey-amber eyes that seemed to ignite like liquid fire from within, and smiled. “You don’t have to treat me like a porcelain doll. I can take care of myself.”

He smoothed the bangs from my forehead. “Do not speak, my dear. You are exhausted. Here.” He bit into his wrist and placed it to my lips. The intoxicating scent of copper and salt and a tangy sweetness mingled together as I inhaled the aroma of the blood and bit into him and began to drink from his wrist as if he were the Holy Grail itself.

He moaned in pleasure and his entire body relaxed at my bite. “Drink as much as you need.”

I didn’t hold back and greedily suckled at his flesh, gulped down as much blood as I could before he yanked his arm free from my mouth and the two tiny holes healed instantaneously. “You took more than expected,” he commented.

I panted. “Sorry, you just tasted so damn good, I couldn’t help myself.”

He swung his legs onto the bed and lay beside me, encircled his strong arms around my chest and breathed into my neck. “You tempt me so, Lily, you really do.”

I responded, “If I tempt you, then why don’t you do anything?”

He chuckled lightly. “You’re still weak from your training. I cannot take advantage of that situation. After you rest, we
might
engage in such deviant activities.”

I yawned. “I think I’m getting better you know. With the sword and fighting and stuff.”

“You are, my dear, you most certainly are. You are improving exponentially. Far beyond my initial expectations.”

I rolled over so that I was facing him. “I’m hungry for some cake. Do we have any?”

He laughed again, low and melodious. “After you rest, you may have some of that cake you crave so much.”

I smiled. “Okay. Promise?”

He cupped my cheek with a hand and stared longingly into my eyes. “I promise.”

What did he see? What was he trying to see?

Who
was he trying to see?

* * * *

“Strawberry shortcake, Lily’s favorite.” Sang set a bowl of the food onto my lap and set a fork into my right hand. I gratefully pierced a chunk of cake onto my fork as Sang sprayed a generous amount of whipped cream all over the top of it.

“How you feeling, Lil?” he asked me as he took a bite out of his own bowl.

“A lot better.” I lapped up the whipped cream and munched on my strawberry.

Sang smirked. “I’m so happy you’re all right. You had me worried for those two hours you slept.”

I licked around my lips. “Sorry, Sang. My body just…gave out. I feel a lot better after drinking Darius’s blood and eating this awesome cake.”

“You know it’s only two more hours until we get to Paris,” he told me matter-of-factly.

I nodded. “Wow. Time sure flies fast when you’re, well, flying.”

“Eat all your cake, my dear. I don’t want to see a scrap left.” Darius chimed in as he came inside the room and sat on the bed next to me and Sang.

“Sang, get me some strawberry shortcake too!” Caen demanded as he also arrived; golden hair dark and wet, a towel wrapped around his waist.

“Oh, sorry, Caen, I forgot.” Sang apologized and stood up to go and get Caen some cake. Before he left the room, he pecked the blonde on the forehead and Caen’s face flushed like a red firetruck. I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

“We have a past,” he tried to explain.

“I know.”

“Anyway, when we’re all done with finding this incubus, Lily, I’m going to train you in how to use your flames.”

I immediately perked up. “Really? Sweet.”

He took a seat on the other side of the bed, the mattress groaning with his weight. “You need to learn how to use the fire when you want so that you can always be ready.”

“Thanks, I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Darius cleared his throat. “Now that we are finished with speaking about the future, I want to propose a toast to finding this incubus and saving Hira.” He raised a wine glass and Lawrence rolled a cart into the room with a dozen or so glasses filled with a deep scarlet wine. He handed one to each of us and Sang returned with Caen’s bowl of cake and set it on the nightstand.

Darius held his glass high. “To Hira!”

We all cheered in unison and clanked our glasses together. “To Hira!”

Then we gulped the drinks down quickly and Darius poured himself another glass.

“Oh, shit.” I swore. “Now I’m gonna be paralyzed, aren’t I?”

“You are not a fledgling vampire anymore, my dear. It has almost been a year and your powers have grown. Alcohol will only have the same effect on you as it did when you were a human.”

I exhaled. “Thank God.”

Everyone laughed and I felt my cheeks blush as I pouted. “It’s not funny.”

“You were so worried! You should’ve seen the look on your face!” Sang pointed giddily at me.

Caen spoke, “It was rather funny, Lily.”

I frowned. “Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want. I’m gonna finish my cake. Oh, and just how are we gonna find this incubus, anyway?”

Darius replied smoothly, “First we will speak to the locals about what they know. Then I will try and see if I can search the minds of the people in the area. If that fails, we will have to use bait.” He glanced at Sang.

“Oh, hell no!”

“Do you not want to save your friend?”

Sang glowered. “Yeah, I wanna save Hira! Oh, fine! But only if everything else fails.”

“You’ll have to dye your hair red,” Caen commented.

Sang rolled his eyes. “You’d all just love that, wouldn’t you?”

“It would be necessary as the incubus has a great liking for redheads,” Darius said promptly.

Sang scratched his head. “I get, I get it! But
only
if all else fails, okay?”

Caen slid close to Sang and kissed him on the cheek “That’s my Sang.”

I snorted. “Always ready to run into danger.”

Darius peered at his wristwatch and grinned. “It seems we have some time before landing. Who would like some more wine?”

“Me! Me!” I raised a hand. “Oh, and, Darius, you have to keep your promise.”

He quirked a brow. “And what would that be, my dear?”

“You said you’d do some naughty things with me when I woke up.”

Sang and Caen both “oohed” and laughed together as Darius rubbed his chin in thought. “I suppose I did say that, didn’t I?” He set his glass onto the floor and crawled onto the bed on top of me so his legs were straddling my hips and his face was hovering mere centimeters above mine.

“You smell so sweet, my dear. Like a ripened fruit.” He sniffed my neck and I shuddered. He then peeled the sheet off me and carefully slid my tank top off, before his fingers hooked into my shorts and slipped them off my ankles. I was only in my pink lacey bra and panties now and his grin grew extremely wide as I averted my gaze and he unclasped my bra from the front and nudged it onto the pillows. My breasts bounced from their tight containment and I could feel his burning stare piercing into me as he lowered his mouth to my right nipple and began to suckle long and hard.

My hands fisted the sheets as a moan escaped my lips. His wet, cool mouth on my naked flesh sent butterflies swarming in my stomach and I arched my back into him as he swirled his tongue around my areola until the bud was erect and pebbly and he drew on it again, this time much harder, and ripped a surprised gasp from my throat.

He switched to the other breast and orally assaulted me, more and more, until I cried out and felt the wetness leaking between my thighs. He swiped a finger down there and placed it on my lips, pressed his forefinger into my mouth so I could taste my own salty but sweet womanly flavor. A growl emanated from his throat as he pinned my hands above my head and planted a row of fiery kisses from my neck to my groin and then with one hand unbuckled his belt and wrestled out of his pants. His impressive rock-hard cock sprung free and he was ready, oh so ready.

My body thrummed with excitement as he roughly thrust inside me.

“Mm, you’re so wet and tight for me now, my dear. Please scream your pleasure for me. I love it when you scream.”

And he plunged into me again and again and I couldn’t help but scream my ecstasy to the heavens. As Darius continued to fuck me hard, Sang and Caen padded over to me. Sang pressed his mouth eagerly to mine, our tongues dancing together in a delightful ballet as Caen fondled my breasts and licked and sucked at them as if they were malleable lollipops. He squeezed and crushed them in his palms as his tongue stabbed and darted around the stony nipples.

I bit Sang’s lower lip and drew some tangy, irony blood into my mouth and smiled as he caressed my cheek tenderly. Darius moaned as he finally emptied his hot seed onto my stomach and breasts and Sang broke away from the kiss to help Caen lick the thick fluid from my skin.

Then Darius lay beside me and curled his arms around me as Sang lay on the other side and Caen took a spot beside him. It reminded me of a pile of exhausted puppies and I grinned as my body lost its brief heat from the wonderful sex.

Darius spoke quietly. “We should rest for a bit before dressing. We’ll be landing in about an hour.”

I stroked the curve of his jaw and kissed him, loving the shocked expression that crossed his angelic features and whispered, “We know, Darius. We know.”

I frickin’ loved the cobblestone streets and the clacking of the carriage horses’ hooves in the small but welcoming town we were in just before we took a short train ride to France’s capital. Every window was overflowing with blossoming flowers and vivid green plants, every store sign flipped to “open” and every sidewalk brimming with locals and tourists alike. Sang held my hand and we strode along the road, occasionally visiting a wine shop and joking about which bottle Darius would buy and which ones he’d pass up as “not aged enough”.

The air was so fresh and alight with the scents of mingling breads and pastries. Sang and I entered a tiny bakery and I gazed in wonder at all the different baked goods that were crammed into the shelves and ordered at least one of every kind. Sang giggled as I munched happily on an éclair as we met up with Darius and Caen at the train station. The orange sun surrounded by salmon brushed skies was already dipping deep below the horizon for the evening,

Darius scooped a blueberry scone from one of my many brown paper bags and took a bite as Caen hugged Sang and kissed him affectionately on the cheek. We waited about five minutes, just standing there relishing the aroma floating in the air until the train finally rolled into the station and everyone on it had gotten off.

Darius was quick to grasp my hand and I was pulled along with him to a seat in the middle, me ending up by the middle, he on the inside, while Caen and Sang hastily took the spot behind us and instantly began chewing on more pastries. I was deeply saddened that Sang had stolen the bag from me when Darius tugged me with him and just as I twisted by neck to look at Sang and ask him for the bag back, Darius cleared his throat and uttered sternly, “Don’t move, my dear.”

I immediately looked forward, my fists on my knees, as Darius gazed at the seats in front of us with a scowl, his chin propped on the back of his hand.

I wondered why he told me to be quiet when I smelled the uncanny odor of rotted flesh and decay. My eyes widened as I nudged Darius’s arm to tell him I was confused. Why was I smelling this sickening scent? Why now?